Leaving Town
by KitLee
Summary: Rory returns to Stars Hollow after many years. R/D


Leaving Town  
by KitLee  
  
Disclaimer: All is not mine.  
  
A/N: This is a Rory/Dean fic. I know I can't be the only fan out there. Hello? Hel-loh-oh? Oops, maybe I am.  
  
  
I thought I would die when she went to Harvard. Rory, sweet Rory, was leaving me forever. Sweet, beautiful, innocent Rory. The Rory for whom I went to a debutante ball, wore a tux, wore a suit, and fixed up a car. The Rory for whom I read classical literature, like Jane Austin. The Rory I wanted to marry. That Rory.  
  
Of course, Rory was just excited. How could she not be? Harvard was her dream, her Mecca. She'd worked her entire life for Harvard. Of course, in all the excitement of planning and packing, she seemed to forget that to go to Harvard she would have to leave me. Because even if she didn't accept it, I did: I was a nobody. Certainly I wasn't some Ivy League stiff.   
  
Or maybe she was happy to leave me. Now there's a depressing thought, Dean. Maybe she was eager to get out there and date lots of guys, some (or most) of whom would pressure her to have sex with them. Nevermind that good-guy Dean never tried to push Rory into anything. Nevermind that even though I would have given anything to be her first, I didn't force the issue. Heck, I didn't even mention it. Nevermind that I tried to be Mr. Responsible-Kind-and-Parentally-Acceptable. Nevermind all that.  
  
So when she left for Harvard, I pretended to be happy. I'll admit that I was proud. And I was happy - for her. But for me and for us, I was depressed. But I had to put on a happy face. So I did. For Rory.  
  
I'll never forget the day Lorelai drove off with her. Lane and I were standing in their driveway, saying goodbye. I would have gone with them, but I had to start school myself soon. Besides, it was easier that way. I kissed Rory goodbye, long and hard.  
  
"I'll write you every day," Rory promised. "And I'll call you every day, too."  
  
Poor innocent Rory, still thinking we could maintain a long distance relationship. "Rory," I began, saying the hardest thing in the world for me to say. "I think we should break up."  
  
"What? Why?" Rory looked at me with that cute, wide-eyed confused look of hers.  
  
"Rory, you're going to Harvard. And me, I'm just going to Hartford. We'll be miles apart, and I think it'd be best to make a clean break of it now." Her nerves, already stretched to the breaking point with fear, broke. She began to cry. I struggled to explain myself to her. "I mean, you'll be in this amazing new world with new people and new guys, and I don't want you to feel burdened by me."  
  
"You won't burden me, Dean. I love you. I swear, there's no one else -" Rory said, but I cut her off.  
  
"Don't say it Rory. I don't want you promising anything you can't keep. Just - remember me. That's all I ask." Then I turned and walked away. I couldn't stand to look at her confused, scared, hurt face any longer.  
  
And then she was gone. Lane came chasing after me later that day, hitting me and yelling at me for breaking Rory's heart. Luke banned me from his store again. The whole town ostracized me. When Lorelai came back, she yelled, hit, and shunned me. But gradually, people moved on. They forgot; or at least, they forgave. I studied at college to be a teacher. I decided that I wanted to teach high school and coach baseball. I picked English as my subject, for Rory.  
  
After college, I got a job at Stars Hollow High. I saw Lorelai one day, and she told me that Rory had graduated top of her class from Harvard and had a job at the New York Times. Also, she was getting married. To Tristan. DuGrey. And when I found that out, the rest of keen Dean died.  
  
Rory had been so eager to leave Stars Hollow and live this great, exciting life. She dreamed of traveling to get away from it all. And now she was doing that. I was sure that she was happy.  
  
*****  
  
After that, I dedicated myself to teaching. Women came into my life, but they all found their way out. I couldn't fall for any of them. Compared to Rory, they were nothing. Even Lorelai and Luke started telling me to get over Rory, to find some nice girl and get married. But I couldn't.   
  
Rory's marriage to Tristan upset her mother. After she was married, Rory never came back to Stars Hollow. Sometimes her mother and Luke would visit them in New York City, but they never came to Stars Hollow. I didn't know if it was her or his decision. From the way Lorelai talked, it was his idea.  
  
I started reading the New York Times every day to read Rory's articles. I was so proud and so happy when I read them - and so sad.  
  
But then, all that changed. One Friday in October . . .   
  
I was grading my students essays on Shakespeare in my classroom. This year was a good bunch of kids. I liked them, especially Amy Wells. She reminded me of Rory, driven, hardworking, and bright. Don't worry, I wasn't about to go sleep with her or something. It made me sad to see her with Adam Holling, her long time best friend and boyfriend. They reminded me of Rory and myself. I didn't know whether to envy Adam or to warn him.  
  
Anway, I was grading essays when the door opened. I looked up, expecting it to be a student. Instead, a beautiful brunnette walked in.  
  
"Dean?" she asked timidly.   
  
"Rory?" I asked hestiantly.  
  
"Oh Dean!" she cried, before falling into my arms. She buried her face in my chest, crying. She looked terrible. Her hair and messy, her clothes were mismatched, and her face looked splotchy from crying.  
  
I held her for a long time, reveling in her presence. I'd missed her so much over the years. Finally though, I broke the embrace.  
  
"Rory, what's wrong? Is it your mother?"  
  
"No, no, Mom's fine. It's - it's Tristan." She started crying more. Gently, I led her into a student desk. Hearing her say his name reminded me that she was a married woman.  
  
"What happened to Tristan?" I asked in my best teacher-voice.  
  
"We're getting - a divorce." She whimpered.  
  
"Why? What happened?" I asked calmly, inside though, my heart sang.  
  
Rory sniffled and puller herself together. "Yesterday, I just got back from Prague on business. I was back early, so I went home to surprise him. Only, when I got there - " she trailed off.  
  
I handed her the box of tissues and looked sympathetically at her.  
  
Rory blew her nose. "When I got there, he was in bed - with - with another woman." She started crying again. "I thought he loved me. Only me."  
  
When she'd calmed herself down, she continued. "After she left, we talked. He said that it wasn't that big a deal. He said that it was just part of high society and that I should look the other way or risk making a scene. He didn't understant how I felt at all.  
  
"I couldn't stay after that. I got in my car and drove all the way back here. Mom told me that you were a teacher at the high school; so when I drove by it, I just had to stop."  
  
She took my hand. "I know we haven't seen each other in years, but could I stay with you tonight. Tonight Mom, Luke, and Peter are going to dinner at my grandparent's, and I can't face them right now. I just need to go to bed."  
  
"Sure," I managed to say. I shoved the papers in my bag and took her home. All the while I was thinking how wonderful it was to see her again. I babbled all the way home, filling her in on years of Stars Hollow gossip. Neither of us were listening, though.  
  
When I got her home, I showed her to the bathroom and got her some of my old clothes (since she hadn't brought anything with her), stuff I thought might fit her. She wound up wearing a Stars Hollow High baseball t-shirt and blue plaid boxer shorts. I smiled when I saw how cute she looked.  
  
I fixed her up some dinner; and then, while she was eating, I changed the sheets on my bed, giving her my bed and myself the couch. After dinner, she went straight to bed. Neither of us talked much that night, and the silence was awkward. I kept wondering why she'd come to me of all people.  
  
Around midnight, I was awakened by someone tapping me on the shoulder.  
  
"Dean," Rory whispered. "Dean."  
  
"Uhn, what? I woke up groggy and confused. Rory?" Suddenly, everything came back to me. "Rory. Is something wrong?"  
  
She looked embarrassed. "I couldn't sleep. I kept having nightmares."  
  
"Do you want me to come in and chase the monsters away?" I teased.  
  
"No," she said seriously. She twisted her wedding ring nevously around her finger. "Um, could I sleep with you tonight?"  
  
My heart lifted. "Okay," I said with forced casualness.  
  
I followed her into the bedroom, knowing that nothing could happen between us as long as she wore that ring. I wasn't slime like that DuGrey; I didn't take advantage of emotionally confused girls.  
  
I crawled into bed with her and put my arm around her. I held her, and this time the silence between us wasn't awkward. We fell asleep like that, but before we did, she whispered, "I knew I could never love anyone the way I love you."  
  
I kissed her gently on the forehead. "Welcome back, Rory." 


End file.
